Speeches

Training

Muslim Global Superstar comes to Town

The controversial theologian Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri yesterday entered Copenhagen
with the message that Islam stands for democracy and peace between religions.

Fatwa against terrorism

Jacob Sheikh

A handful of young men in newly pressed suits walking back and forth between
the stage and the rows in the pompous conference hall of Marriott Hotel. The chairs
are being put in order, so everything is in line, before the main personality of
the day enters the hall a few minutes later.

The man is Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. A theological world star in the Muslim
world, where he is hated by few and loved by many for his long struggle against
terrorism and radicalization. A man who is openly supported by the UN Secretary
General, Ban Ki-moon, and the British Prime Minister David Cameron, and who has
served as an advisor to the British government in counter-terrorism issues and who
is reported to be a official nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize this year. The scholar
has more than 500 theological books on hisCV,he has held more than 300 anti-radicalization
seminars in the western world and founded the worldwide humanitarian welfare organization
Minhaj-ul-Quran. But also a man whose head is worth one million dollars according
to the global terrorist movement al-Qaeda, because he issued a notorious fatwa against
suicide bombers and terrorists, "binladians" as he calls them, in 2010.

Tahir-ul-Qadri is a man you listen to is clear, since the 100 spectators in the
half-filled hall reverently rises and puts their hands behind their back, while
the imam wearing a religious hat, a pin-striped robe, trimmed white beard and gold-plated
glasses stroll through the hall and up to the stage. Shortly after, he started to
talk about the fatwa, which in recent years has taken him on a world tour.

"I am radical in my resistance - theological and philosophical - against terrorism
and radicalization. And I understand that in Denmark there is a small group of Muslims
who doesn’t want to follow the Danish laws. But Islam stands for democracy, and
Islam says that one should follow the Constitution where you live. If Muslim minorities
are dissatisfied, they should protest peacefully or leave the country,"says Tahir-ul-Qadri
and raises his voice, as his hand cuts the air in slices while he is uttering the
words.

Serious threats

Until the conference at Hotel Marriott the imam was unknown in the Danish public,
but a post on the web site, The Short Newspaper, has ever since sparked rumors that
Tahir-ul-Qadri, in fact, speaks with two tongues. In the 1980s the imam was a legal
advisor to the Pakistani dictator Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and thereby helped to shape
the country's maligned blasphemy law claims a debater who has read about the controversial
cooperation on a website in 2001. The Blasphemy law is precisely the reason why
a 11-year-old girl with Down syndrome is incarcerated in a Pakistani jail accused
of having burned a Koran.

"It is nonsense, I've never been an advisor to Zia-ul-Haq. Examine all newspapers,
all archives, go to Pakistan and ask Christians, Hindus and Jews, who have always
protected their rights. I guarantee you that they will mention one name: Tahir-ul-Qadri.
If someone wants to punish the 11-year-old girl, I will personally go to Pakistan
and be her lawyer. I'm tired of having to reject false accusations. If you read
my books, there would be no misunderstanding. I want peace and love between all
religions and equal rights for women and minorities,"said the imam.

Your fatwa has made you a hunted man. Is it worth the risk?

"No one can stop my fight against radical forces. Islam absolutely condemns terrorism.
No exceptions, no excuses. I will not elaborate on what exactly I have been experiencing,
but yes, I have experienced serious threats".

Islam stands for democracy, you say. Do you condemn Muslim regimes like Saudi
Arabia and Bahrain, who have not got democracy?

"Islam does not support monarcial, dictatorial or authoritarian rule. Yes, there
are Islamic countries that are not democratic, but I will not mention any specific
countries. I condemn all regimes that do not ensure human and minority rights. Prophet
Muhammad's first constitution in Medina was democratic and rested on multi-religious
equality between all citizens. It is these Islamic values I carry on. "

Do you think your message will reach the young Muslims who are already radicalized?

There will always be a minimal group who will not listen to me. But I hope that
when a big capacity/personality stands up and calls terrorists un-Islamic, then
most young Muslims listen".

When the imam finished his speech and asked the participants to hold hands and
raise their arms in the air and announce that they will jointly fight for democracy
and freedom of religion, he was taken out of the hall by large security. Tahir-ul-Qadri
discreetly turns his back and combs the beard with a comb when Politikens photographer
prepares to portray him. Friendly, but with certainty the security holds a group
of young female fans at distance while he speaks to the journalists and religious
leaders present in the conference. After the meeting the young women belonging to
the Danish youth of Minhaj-ul-Quran was taking pictures with their mobile phones
and giggling loudly, Tahir-ul-Qadri send them a short greeting.

"I was so close to him that I could almost touch him," tells a young girl to
her friend. Meanwhile the Islamic world star went to the hotel's exit, where a number
of expensive cars were waiting to drive Tahir-ul-Qadri on to the next task.

Popular. Young fans showed up to get close to Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, whose
organization Minhaj-ul-Quran has branches in more than 90 countries.